Levi's Birth Day

I've been meaning to write this for a while.  Like for a year.  I kept thinking I would get around to it.  Well, what a great day to write the story of Levi's birth, on his birthday.  Seriously, where does a year go?  I thought time went fast before I had kids, I had no idea.

Tuesday March 27, 2012

7:00 am-  I woke up that morning expecting to go to work.  I got out of bed, and was about to get in the shower when my water broke.  It was exactly how people describe it: a gush!  I was 39 weeks and 2 days pregnant.  My due date was April 1.  Adam was already downstairs getting ready to leave for work.  I yelled down the steps, "I'm pretty sure my water just broke."  He replied, "Really?"  He called work and made arrangements for a sub and ran around the house like a chicken with his head cut off.  I immediately called my mom and my friend/doula/nurse extraordinaire Cristin.  Cristin said I could get into the shower, but to come to the hospital as soon as I could.



My mom got to the hospital around 8:00.  In fact, she beat us to the hospital.  When we walked up to the doors, there she was filming.  We walked into L&D and casually told them we were there to have a baby.  We were checked into Triage where the nurse confirmed that my water had broken.  They put an external heart rate monitor on my belly.  The nurse went to call Dr. Moore, but came back to inform me that she was off on Tuesdays.  I was BEYOND upset.  I had spoken with Dr. Moore about my birth plan and she agreed to no interventions unless absolutely necessary etc.  The nurse told me that the on-call doctor wanted to start Pitocin immediately.  I was devastated.  I wanted to attempt a natural birth, but I knew that it would be more difficult with Pitocin contractions.  Cristin convinced the nurse to call back and explain my situation.  The nurse came back with good news that Dr. Moore had agreed to deliver my baby on her day off!

Before the contractions: eating a popsicle. 

Dr. Moore agreed to let my body start contracting without Pitocin.  Cristin, Adam, mom, and I moved to labor and delivery from Triage.  They were able to put a portable heart rate monitor on me so I could move around and attempt to start contracting on my own.  Cristin, Adam, and I walked the halls constantly.  I bounced on a stability ball.  Still, nothing.

Around 12:30 Dr. Moore came in to say they wanted to start Pitocin.  I conceded.  She explained they would start it on a low dose and increase it every 30 minutes.  I still wasn't sure what to expect.  I hadn't really felt any pain yet.  I knew I had the option of an epidural if I decided I needed one.  I really just wanted to see how far I could get without one.  I was determined to at least attempt a natural birth.  I had read up on natural births and knew my body was meant to do this.  It helped me to think that women birthed babies for thousands of years before the "epidural."

My contractions pretty much started immediately.  They became intense pretty quickly.  They were every 2-3 minutes at first, but I was breathing through them.  Honestly, I found that as long as I focused on something (which happened to be one of the diamonds in a pattern on my hospital gown) the contractions were over before I realized it.  It's almost as if your mind blocks everything else out during the contraction.  It was a very spiritual experience for me.  I loved knowing that my body was meant for this and I found comfort in that.  After a contraction, everything went back to normal and I was allowed a few minutes to rest.  My contractions weren't lasting too long at this point.

After laboring 2-3 hours, they checked my cervix and I was at 3 1/2 centimeters.  I was so disappointed.  I had worked through a lot of contractions to gain a couple of centimeters!  At this point, my contractions were picking up as they were continuing to increase my level of Pitocin.  I remember saying, "I don't know," trying to get someone to acknowledge me.  I think Cristin had spoken with the nurses and told them my plan was to go natural.  Not one nurse ever said, "It's okay honey, you can have an epidural whenever you're ready."  I think that was a huge part of my success.  No one ever mentioned the word "epidural."  I think if someone had, I would've said, "Yeah, okay, I'll have one."  I could have easily convinced myself at this stage that I needed one.  I couldn't imagine how much worse my contractions would get.

I just kept thinking "If I can get through the next one."  That was how I did it.  The contractions continued to get closer together.  My breaks between were becoming much shorter.  They became so intense that I felt like I couldn't move at all during one.  During my breaks I would just melt, almost fall asleep instantly.  This was my body recovering.  When Cristin left to teach her childbirth class, Adam, mom, Carla, and my mother-in-law provided my support (literally and figuratively).  Mom and Carla would provide "counter pressure" on my hips, while my mother-in-law would massage my feet.  During what I guess would have been "transition" my tone completely changed.  It was almost as if I was alone.  I zoned everyone and everything else out.  I really couldn't hear conversations around me.

7:43 pm- coming into Transition

8:00 pm-  I started to feel the need to push.  It was a strong feeling and one that was hard to ignore.  This was by far the worst part of the whole experience.  The nurse told me not to push so I didn't stretch my cervix before it was fully dilated.  Somehow, I made it through another 45 minutes of contractions.

8:45 pm-  The nurse came in and told everyone except mom and Adam to leave.  The lights came down above my bed.  It was a bit of a show.  Everyone was in the room getting ready.  They wheeled in the cart they would put him in.  Dr. Moore arrived at this point.  I was so ready to push!!

Dr. Moore instructed me to push when my next contraction started.  When the contraction started the nurse/doctor counted from 1-10.  It felt so amazing to push.  After the first round, I felt what they call the "ring of fire."  It felt like his head was there!  It hurt, but it was more of a relief to push.  They turned off my Pitocin (it was on the highest possible level) to give me a longer break between contractions/pushing.  I remember Dr. Moore looking at the monitor and saying "He's not liking being down there," referring to him in the birth canal.  When I heard that, I was committed to getting him out with the next push!  They put an O2 mask on me and that freaked me out.  I think I pushed 1-2 more times and I heard the cry!  Oh what a wonderful sound!  I was so relieved.  He was born at 9:15 and weighed 7 lbs. 1 oz, and 19 in. long. 

I had communicated to the staff and my family that Kangaroo care was very important to me.  As soon as he was out, they gave him to me for skin to skin.  I laid with him on my chest for about an hour.   He breastfed almost instantly.  It was so beautiful.

It seems like it was only yesterday.  We've made so many memories over the last year!  Mommy loves you Levi Joel!  Happy birthday baby!